The new album from The Human Hearts is good old American indie. The songcraft here is superb, and that shouldn't be a surprise if you've ever heard any other project from Franklin Bruno (Nothing Painted Blue). Recorded and mixed by Mitch Easter (Let's Active), Faith & Credit is one of this week's best records.
"Still in Error" is chunky, a riff-rocker with sharp lyrics and sharp hooks, while the more elegant "(Too Many) Illusions" is a little more complex. The spry title cut adds horns and ups the tempo. Bruno has a clever way of mixing laconic lyrics and bright melodies. It's one of the things that makes his songwriting so winning so often. Elsewhere, "Sad and Afraid" is a wickedly smart skewering of a certain kind of person who was likely a business major in college, and who's sold their soul for access to power. Even better is "Untimely Beggar" with its Randy Newman-y mix of the sweet and the sour, with lyrical and melodic turns to match.
The Human Hearts still feel like one of those bands that's criminally underappreciated, much like Beauty Pill (Jean Cook of that group is here on violin). Franklin Bruno is so wildly talented that the only criticsm you can throw out is that he's too good at too many styles. Still, Faith & Credit is, for all its stylistic twists, a remarkably solid record, and one with some of the best American songwriting this reviewer has heard in 2026.
Faith & Credit by The Human Hearts is out now. Details via Bandcamp.
More details on Franklin Bruno via the official website.
[Photo: Liz Clayton]